COVID-19 - Reliable Information Resources: Fighting Misinformation

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Tech created a variety of contact tracing apps for U.S. use. Eighteen months later, an M.I.T. Technology Review study found that only 13 states managed to get at least 15% of the population to opt in, which is the minimum thought to be necessary to significantly reduce infections.

-Updated 4-13-22-

•  The WHO has issued a warning about suspicious phishing emails mimicking official communications from them regarding COVID-19. Click here to report suspected scams.
• There are also phishing scams that "impersonate" Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet as well as spoofing their official websites.
• There has been a marked increase in hack attempts on medical facilities and frontline responders, as well as communications network services. An international volunteer group of 400 cybersecurity experts has been organized to prevent and disarm potential hackers.

• Tech security organizations have reported that cyber-criminals are exploiting interest in the COVID-19 outbreak to spread malicious activity via spam campaigns, and an April 2020 joint advisory issued by U.S. and U.K. security agencies lists over 2,500 malicious sites/email addresses (the list is to be continuously updated). As always, use caution when opening emails and conducting online searches.

-Updated 2-28-24-

Click here for the latest research.

-updated 7-3-23-

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, assembled a team dedicated to accurate news reporting on COVID-19 as it affected the U.S., reaching out to the public for input. 

"In the absence of new, vetted information, reckless speculation takes its place, muddling our conception of the truth."

- Charlie Warzel, New York Times technology columnist 

Source: NYTimes.com

-updated 2-28-24-

In 2020, NewsGuard, a nonprofit that fact checks and rates news stories, implemented a new feature listing Facebook pages that have most frequently linked to debunked COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories.

-updated 2-28-24-

In 2020, BBC News studied COVID-19 misinformation trends, and developed a list of seven types of people who start or spread viral misinformation:

• Jokers - Pranksters looking to attract attention
• Scammers - People seeking to profit 
• Politicians - Attempting to seem "in control" and/or manipulate public opinion
• Conspiracy Theorists - Attempting to make sense of a chaotic situation
• "Insiders" - People falsely professing to have inside knowledge
• Relatives/Friends - Unwittingly sharing unvetted information due to fear/anxiety
• Celebrities - Those with a popular following who follows/reacts to whatever they say

-Updated 9-29-23-

A 2020 report published by computer science/law expert Woodrow Hartzog and a team of experts found that while the pandemic led to welcome advancements in video conferencing technology and a plethora of health-tracking apps, those same technological improvements included significantly increased opportunities for data collection, exposure and misuse. Users in search of the latest health information or just a human connection were being victimized by an ever more sophisticated data mining infrastructure. The worst part, said Hartzog, was that some of these apps are very difficult to extricate yourself from. This isn't the last you'll be hearing about this. 

-updated 7-3-23-

During the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community began to fitght back against misinformation on a number of fronts, including social media platforms like Twitter. Strategies included using algorithms to "surface" correct information and posting across multiple formats.

Despite ongoing efforts of the science/medical community, a 2023 Annenberg Policy Center survey concluded that more Americans than ever believe that COVID-19 vaccines have killed large numbers of people. Disinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccines continue to be spread by television, podcasts, and print journalism, where they are often received as credible information by news consumers, despite widespread consensus that vaccines are both safe and effective. 

-updated 9-29-23-

• The Indiana University Observatory on Social Media (OSoMe) vaccine misinformation dashboard CoVaxxy is no longer being updated as of 2/7/23. CoVaxxy displayed data visualizations of the relationship between misinformation and negative health outcomes.

• In March 2020, "big tech"  companies - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube in particular - strengthened protocols for harmful and misleading information in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether these protocols remain in force permanently remains to be seen, but in this uncertain and difficult time, it is a welcome change. Update: Beginning April 2020, YouTube began inserting fact checks near "informational" videos hosted on its U.S. platform. Organizations like Factcheck.org and Politifact were among those participating in the initiative. Beginning May 2020, Twitter began adding labels and warning messages on some tweets with disputed or misleading information about COVID-19; the labels will provide links to further information. Users of the platform can expect to see this type of approach applied to other other topics going forward. UPDATE SEP 2023: Users should proceed with caution since change in ownership of X (formerly Twitter) platform. 
• In mid-April 2020, Facebook began rolling out new protocols designed to curb spread of COVID-19 misinformation on the platform, including posting warnings about key debunked stories to all user newsfeeds. They also began "reducing" the distribution of stories rated "false" by in-house fact-checkers, attaching warning labels and providing additional context. The most promising tactic looked to be a program that issues a warning to people who have posted "harmful misinformation" and redirects them to the WHO's COVID-19 misinformation hub.

• In March 2020, Apple released a COVID-19 screening tool in collaboration with the CDC, FEMA, and the White House. The tech giant stated that the tool "should not be considered a replacement for medical care," but as an educational tool, and that data gathered via the tool would not be sold or shared. Both Siri (Apple) and Amazon's Alexa search bots were used to quickly locate information from the CDC and other reliable sources.
• In order to discourage large gatherings, federal, state and local governments began using cell phone data to generate geolocation maps showing people's movements in late March 2020. Per the Wall Street Journal, the data was scrubbed of identifying information, although privacy may be a concern. They hoped to use the data to show relationships between people's movements and the spread of COVID-19. Per an April 2020 press release, Apple and Google partnered to develop just such an app, but according to reporting, functionality issues with the app seemed to have pushed it to the back burner. There is currently no legislation addressing whether cell phone data ought to be used in this manner, but as of April 2020, the two tech giants pledged to shut down their COVID-19 tracking app "when the pandemic ends." UPDATE April 2021: Studies have shown that the Android version of the Google/Apple contact tracing app is not secure. Worse still, Google knew about this flaw and dragged its heels on fixing the problem. To be continued.
• Despite its flaws as a source -- especially with medical information -- Google released a COVID-19 website in 2020. As with all things Google, continue to use with caution and as a starting point, and follow links to view source material. 
• In June 2020, Google helped place ads amplifying COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and in one instance featured an ad from a conspiracist it had previously banned.

As web platforms try to stay on top of misinformation related to COVID-19, a group of scholars and nonprofits contacted them requesting that they preserve data on content that they've removed during the course of the pandemic. Such data should prove valuable for future study.

In 2020, the CDC, in conjunction with Microsoft, developed a COVID-19 symptom checker tool designed to assist users in learning more about the virus' known symptoms, and to facilitate discussions with health providers. As with all such tools, it is not to be used to make diagnoses or prescribe medical treatment.